Ekümenopolis ( Ecumenopolis ) is a term which was declared by a greek urban designer Constantinos Doxiadis in 1967. It states that as a result of increasing of world population and urbanization, the all urbanized spaces and megapolises in the world will be connected as a whole one city.

"In Istanbul, the economical limits are crossed, population limits are crossed, ecological limits are crossed..."

Saturday, 25 September 2010

SLEEPless starts on Tuesday, 04.10.2010 with a challenging lecture entitled:

“Mapping the Known or Exploring the Knowable? – reflections on arts-based forms of spatial investigation” by Dr. Maria Hellström Reimer

In relation to any organization of things and forces, the introduction of the notion of ‘art’ will cause tension. Not the least has this been the case in the fields of architecture and urbanism, where ‘art’, either as unlawful ornamentation or ingenious articulation, has challenged forms and procedures. When art or arts-based practices enter the field of academic research, the tension again increases, calling for renewed reflection on the role of representation and mediation. With the point of departure in a number of arts-based research projects, the lecture will approach the distinction between mapping the known and exploring the knowable.
Dr Maria Hellström Reimer – associate professor and senior research fellow in landscape architecture at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, and the Design Faculty, Royal College of Technology, Stockholm, with a specialization in theoretical and applied aesthetics/design theory. Currently the co-coordinator of two national post-graduate programs, as well as the international arts-based research platform Land Use Poetics.